(Source: http://www.servistur.ru/novgorod/sights/s_sofia/19.html)

There is a thin bright bell tower on Desyatinnaya Street in the ancient Lyudin (Goncharsky) part of Veliky Novgorod, between Prusskaya and Dobrynya streets. Its gate is the entrance to the territory of the former Desyatinny women’s monastery. This is one of the eight ancient city monasteries that almost completely kept its historical layout and the larger part of the buildings.

Unfortunately, the ancient monastery Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin has not survived, only ruins remained from it. The project of restoration of the Cathedral has been developed, for the architectural appearance of the monastery is incomplete without this building.

Currently Desyatinny Monastery is one of the cultural centres of Veliky Novgorod. The State Museum of Artistic Culture of Novgorod Oblast is located here. It is considered that the monastery was founded in 1327. According to the chronicles, the Church of Nativity of the Virgin “on Desyatina” was built by the order of the Archbishop Moisey, later the building was “decorated with icons and books”.

There is no exact explanation of the reason why monastery was called “Desyatinny”. The Russian word “desyatina” referred to a tenth of income that was given to the Church, as well as the sum collected from monasteries and churches for the St. Sophia Cathedral.

The princely estates also had the same name. Most likely, the monastery built on the former princely piece of land was first called “on Desyatina” and later – “Desyatinsky” or “Desyatinny”. The monastery was severely damaged during the Swedish occupation of Novgorod in 1611-1617. All wooden buildings and fences were destroyed, only the devastated Church of Nativity of the Virgin survived then. In 1809 a stone bell tower was built, it crowned the complex of the monastery buildings. It was rebuilt in 1903 and has kept the same look until now.

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